Janina Bruegel dissects our humanity tenderly, honestly, blatantly and mercilessly. In her portraits and group pictures, the Nuremberg artist masterfully penetrates the personality structure and reveals it to the viewer without mercy. What is fascinating is that her protagonists appear mentally distant, but their corporeality and physical presence reveal an entire life story. The often empty gaze of her figures becomes a projection surface and a reference space for her own psyche.
janina bruegel
oh, how good that no one knows that my name is man-eater
You can always feel the deep love for people. This is no coincidence. There is a “human touch” in the artist’s life. The mother of four children is firmly anchored in the lively “human chaos” through her everyday life alone. Despite this – or probably because of it – she manages to observe and analyze people intensively. “I’m a people eater,” she says of herself. “I literally absorb their essence and can then reproduce it on canvas in such a way that the typical, the essential comes to light,” adds the artist.
Artist Janina Bruegel
- Internationally successful
- Traded internationally
publications oh, how good that everyone knows that i’m a man-eater163 ONE SIX THREE | art in print Verlag
COME AS YOU ARE, 140 x 120 cm, acrylic on linen, 2016/2024 © Janina Bruegel
whoever paints people must absorb them
It is this fascination with uncanny clarity with which Janina Bruegel “undresses” the content of her protagonists and reveals their naked souls to the viewer. However, she is not interested in exposing the characters, but rather in their worries, hardships and, of course, their joys, secrets and obviousness. What emerges is an independent panopticon – a Bruegel cosmos – spiced with attributes from the 1950s (the eternal monstera, the patterns of grandma’s washable tablecloths send their regards) or the 1970s flower power years. Much is familiar, which makes it easier for the viewer to better understand her oeuvre, but at the same time she builds up a field of tension with the combination of her dissecting painting style that surprises you.
The artist in front of her “little human zoo” © Janina Bruegel
it's not the detail, it's the difference.
janina bruegel
The accuracy and brilliance of her figurative painting is based on two essential characteristics. The foundation – as the artist herself says – is observation, observation and more observation. “When painting, every detail that makes the statement of the picture is important. You have to leave out so much of reality so that it remains, and you have to know what makes the difference – that’s all,” summarizes Janina Bruegel. A key factor in the expressive physicality of her paintings is the fact that the artist studied medicine and therefore has a sound knowledge of anatomy.
Janina Bruegel in her studio; 2023 © Janina Bruegel
PROFESSOR DAUMER (Kaspar Hauser I) 90 x 115 cm, acrylic on linen, 2017 © Janina Bruegel
CONNECTION 155 x 140 cm, acrylic on linen, 2021 © Janina Bruegel
What is tradition?
LORD STANHOPE (Kaspar Hauser III), 90 x 115 cm, acrylic on linen, 2017 © Janina Bruegel
I don't give a damn about art trends. I'll do my thing.
janina bruegel
“LORD STANHOPE” (excerpt)
my little human zoo
Various works by the artist in an exhibition at the Stadttheater Fürth © Janina Bruegel
oh, how good that no one knows that my name is man-eater
2024
exhibitions and bio
2024 MENSCHENSKIND – just look at you, Janina Bruegel, Gottfried Römer Olaf Auser, konsum163, Munich VON MENSCH ZU MENSCH 2, with Bruno Brady, Stadttheater Fürth ONE, group exhibition konsum163, Munich 2022- 2019 Solo and group exhibitions, exhibitions with Galerie Berghout (Frankfurt m Main) and Galerie AR Contemporary (Nuremberg) 2019 FINAL EXHIBITION ARTE LAGUNA PRIZE, Venice, group exhibition THE SADNESS BEHIND SMILES, Zeltnerschloss Nuremberg, solo exhibition 2018 KÖLNER LISTE, Art Fair Cologne PREISTRÄGERAUSSTELLUNG, Galerie H2 Erlangen, group exhibition WIR TREIBEN’S BUNT , Galerie Landskron/Schneidzik Nuremberg, group exhibition 2017 ART MUC, Art Fair Munich KASPAR HAUSER ODER DIE TRÄGKEIT DES HERZENS, Galerie Kurzendörfer, Ansbach 2016 MENSCHEN BEI NACHT, Kunstverein Schwabach VON MENSCH ZU MENSCH, Stadttheater Fürth, together with Bruno Bradt WINTERSALON, Galeriehaus Nord, group exhibition 2015 GOOD DAY, Foyer of the Stadthalle Fürth, solo exhibition GOOD DAY, Almoshof Castle, Nuremberg, solo exhibition 2014/2013 CLEAR. LUMINOUS. BUNT, Zeltnerschloss Nuremberg, together with Jacob Bruegel 2012 MITTELPUNKT MENSCH, Caritas-Pirckheimer-Haus Nuremberg, together with Jacob Bruegel
Janina Bruegel was born in Nuremberg in 1983, the first of four children. Her passionate interest in people and the meaning of life led to a logical double degree: human medicine at the Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen and – as a guest – at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nuremberg. “The love of art has gained the upper hand, it’s a real inherent need for me to go to the studio and paint every day.” The artist’s works have been on display at various exhibitions since 2012. In 2015, the first solo exhibition caused a sensation. Janina Bruegel participated in the final exhibition of the renowned Arte Laguna Prize in Venice in 2019, was represented several times at the Nürnberger Nachrichten Art Prize, the most highly endowed art prize in Bavaria, and Bayerischer Rundfunk honored her oeuvre with a portrait. The large-format works can be seen in an exhibition at the Fürth Municipal Theater in 2024. After longer stays in Cambridge/London and Barcelona, the artist now lives with her family in her native Nuremberg. Janina Bruegel’s work is represented in various collections, and celebrities such as Sascha Lobo are also fans of her unique works of art.
